2014 Pro Wrestling Thread

I knew the internet would not let me down. Here's a replay of last night's historic end to the streak:

 

Considering that Bin Laden was killed when he turned heel, maybe else something good will happen to America just because Truth got a win.

 

I'd ponder that Putin has a heart attack and dies, but then we'd have to find another gimmick for Lana and Rusev. So that's no good.

 

I'm holding out hope for a Putin appearance on Raw. He'd no sell an AA AND a Pedigree.

 

This week’s Observer stuff:

- Battleground wasn’t well-received, with 65.1 percent of readers giving it a thumbs down, 25.4 percent thumbs middle, and only 9.5 percent thumbs up. Beyond the booking issues, it was also noted that the performers were being run a little ragged, as the show came right on the heels of the Japan trip.

- The WWE got a bunch of negative press from Lana’s promo at Battleground, which came after the MH17 tragedy. While she didn’t mention it directly, she mentioned biased media reports about Russia.

- Jim Ross floated the idea of him and CM Punk doing English commentary for New Japan matches, however, it’s something he first said on his podcast. There has been no discussions with Punk and New Japan officials about it, just Ross spitballing an idea. Ross’ non-compete with the WWE expired last week, but it’s not expected that he’ll join anywhere else.

- AJ Styles said he’s already made more in 2014 through July than what he was offered by TNA for the whole year.

- Goldberg did an interview with Phoenix New Times, and while he said he’d like to do another match in the WWE, there wasn’t much interest in their part. WWE sources confirmed this, saying they’re far apart on money, plus there are personal issues between McMahon and Goldberg.

- Arthur Fatu, son of Umaga and cousin of Roman Reigns, is a college junior and a 6’2”, 335-pound offensive lineman at West Texas A&M. He wants to try playing pro football following college, but if not that, he’s already gotten WWE interest, given his size and family ties.

- The newsletter came out before the news about TNA, but if you want some reasoning for why… Spike apparently was not pleased to find out Russo was still working as a consultant, and it’s believed that he was involved far more than the speculated “just advising the announcers!” thing he copped to the previous week.

- All the TNA contract news following can be taken with a grain of salt, given their issues, but… They expressed interest in Josh Matthews, and he was introduced around backstage prior to the last tapings. That usually means someone is getting hired.

- TNA drew 550 to a 13,000 seat ballpark in Louisville, and 725 to a 7,000 seat ballpark in Lexington.

- Part of the reason why FOX put out that massive offer for Time Warner? With the idea that the contracts for NBA, NCAA basketball, MLB and PGA events would come with it, and could be used to strengthen FS1. It’s mentioned in the Observer because any mergers or acquisitions by FS1 would reduce time on the network for UFC.

- The annual edited Mania special that airs on NBC this year, on Aug. 3, will not have the Daniel Bryan match. It’s expected to have the opening promo with Austin, Rock and Hogan, Taker vs. Lesnar and Cena vs. Wyatt. The reasoning is believed to be that outside of the opening promo, the other three (Lesnar, Cena and Wyatt) are needed more to promote SummerSlam.

- Jericho wasn’t actually at the July 21 Raw; the beatdown segment with the Wyatts was taped the night before at Battleground.

- David Otunga is scheduled for guest appearances on General Hospital.

Small spoilers section:

- Sting still isn’t signed. TMZ mistakenly reported that he had signed a PR contract, but it was just a deal for the video game, and nothing else yet.

- Flair is under contract, but they don’t have a clear plan for him yet, still. He was around for Raw and Smackdown last week, but not used on either.

- Mysterio has stopped cashing his checks, and it’s believed he might try to sue to get out of his contract. Because of his injuries, the WWE invoked a rarely used clause in its deals to extend his contract, which he didn’t appreciate.

- They have ordered new belts, and when Cena handed Flair the belt, it was seen as a symbolic retirement. He’ll have just one going forward, which will be replaced by a new design soon.

- They might have Nikki Bella turn on Brie to end that storyline.

 

So, finishing up Raw from last night - Bad times for Adam Rose, in that Sandow seemed way better at his joke gimmick than Adam Rose. I'm digging The Genius 2.0. And yikes, poor Fandango. He's currently on the Drew McIntyre Express to Low-Card Hell, except he never even start as high on the card as Drew. (On the plus side, both of them got some really hot valets while they were in the ring, so they'll always have that going for them.)

I guess they've ditched the "Alicia Fox acts crazy!" gimmick. Too bad, because it made her kind of interesting. I'd rather see her involved in the Paige and AJ fun, as opposed to being in a crappy undercard feud. I do love the Paige heel turn so far though.

Random thought - If Bray Wyatt is going to have the Wyatt Family at ringside at SummerSlam, then Jericho should hunt down Ralphus and have Christian at ringside too. Well, okay, Ralphus would be close to 80 now, but still.

ETA: Also, Brie Bella has a magnificent backyard. Those pants, good decision.

 

There's always the Jerichoholic Ninja.

 

Rusev would win him control over the company after beating Vince's representative, Zach Ryder, in a Company of a Pole match.

 

I haven't seen much from Rose to see anything of a future. I suppose next, they'll be cutting down the entrance to,where we just see him in the ring.

I'm guessing they're cutting the Alicia/crazy thing because A.J. Is back and there is only room for one crazy chick. Heck, they're straining themselves now by actually having three different women's story lines going on at once.

Ralphus would be funny, but a large part of the kiddie crowd wouldn't have a clue who he was. They could do a short sight gag where Jericho is wandering around in the woods looking for the Wyatts' hideout and finds Ralphus about to drink a cup of Koolaid or something.

 

As long as we don't get a fake Putin and fake Obama fighting each other in the ring at Slam I'm good.

 

Since TNA perhaps may fold soon, I decided to give a short review of their existence every year.

2002 - Just trying to find their place in wrestling. A lot of crap, but also some good stuff too with the emphasis on the X-Division and tag team division.

2003 - The year I began watching. Again, the X-Division and the tag division stood out while they also managed to put on a few really big World Title matches. Improvement over 2002 for sure.

2004 - A rather big year thanks to the creation of iMPACT and the switch to monthly PPV's. Again, it was all about the X-Division and tag team titles division. This is about the time when Jeff Jarrett started to feel a little too over exposed.

2005 - Easily TNA's best year. The arrival of Samoa Joe helped the PPV's so much. Besides Joe, the X-Division improved with the debuts of other ROH talents like Aries, Strong and others. The debuts of Christian and Team 3D gave TNA a lot of potential to possibly be legit competition for the WWE at a later date. Jarrett being shoved down our throats was too much to take at times.

2006 - All of the potential in 2005 vanished. TNA got rid of Strong and Aries. They backed the wrong horse in Sting when everyone wanted to see Samoa Joe as a World Champion. Again, Jeff Jarrett is shoved down everyone's throats. Joe ends his undefeated streak against perhaps the one man in TNA history that didn't need the win the most. Of course, the worst thing being TNA bringing back Vince Russo. While it's definitely not a bad year, 2006 was the game of Jenga. Especially when you look back, you can see TNA removing blocks all year long. It's only a matter of time before the tower fell over.

2007 - The Jenga tower fell over. I stop watching on a regular basis. Russo's booking ruins TNA from the top of the card to the bottom. Jarrett gets phased out with Angle taking his place as the guy being shoved down everyone's throats. Joe continues not to be World Champion. Previous year standouts like AJ, Daniels and AMW suffer from poor booking. Fire Russo chants. TNA puts a title around Pacman Jones when Jones can't legally be involved in any action. One of the few highlights being the creation of the Knockouts division, which briefly helped TNA stand out from the WWE like previous years.

2008 - Russo continues to be a moron. TNA finally gives Joe the World Title, while it was nice to see (The title win against Angle was great IIRC), it just felt too late. Booker T gets a big push without putting on any good matches. Like 2007, I don't know how TNA still had any fans.

2009 - As always more stupid Russo booking. Samoa Joe's downfall begins with his terrible Nation of Violence/Penis tattoo gimmick. Main Event Mafia/Frontline feud sucks. X-Division becomes pure filler after a couple of years of decline. Things do improve at the end of the year with the debut of Desmond Wolfe and TNA returning to what works with another Joe, Styles and Daniels feud. TNA's 2010 looked as if it might actually be pretty damn good.

2010 - Hogan and Bischoff come in and ruin everything that was good at the end of 2009. Styles gets put in a poor gimmick of being Nature Boy Jr. Depushes for Joe, Daniels and Wolfe. An influx of new talent, most of which were poor additions. Again, Russo booking is terrible enough that Russo should seriously consider a career in teaching people how to remain employed. He's a fucking GOD at doing so despite poor results. The second Monday Night War ends almost as soon as it begins with TNA having egg on their face. TNA does everything in their power to piss their old fans off. Bigger disaster - Jan 4 or 10-10-10?

2011 - The trio of Hogan, Bischoff and Russo continue to make TNA terrible. More Dixie Carter on TV certainly doesn't equal ratings. Things do improve some in the middle of the year or so. The likes of Bully Ray begins surprising everyone by not only doing well since his split from D-Von, but becomes one of the best aspects of TNA. The good continues with TNA removing some power from Russo. By the end of the year, it's looking as if TNA may be turning a corner despite the misstep at the end of the year with Bobby Roode's booking.

2012 - TNA fires Russo, everyone rejoices~! Austin Aries shows why he's the greatest man that ever lived by easily being the WOTY for TNA. A weak undercard does prevent TNA from being great, but there's enough solid talent on the upper half to keep things interesting. Start of Aces & 8's was great, but quickly began to lose steam due to lackluster reveals. Not too bad of a year in all.

2013 - Aces & 8's kills the potential that the company was showing the previous year. Significant cracks begin to appear in the walls of TNA. The drop of PPV's and several key releases began causing fans to speculate if TNA is in trouble. Naturally, Dixie Carter denies all claims. Yet, by the end of the year, the loss of Hogan, Sting, AJ Styles and others makes it clear that TNA needs a miracle to turn things around.

2014 - The issues of 2013 pales in comparison to the problems of 2014. More popular talent begin to leave due to budget cuts. Fans begin complaining far more about TNA again. TNA interest on WC reaches a new low unless you're HoHo. A few good signings in the form of MVP and the Wolves isn't enough to squash the rumors that TNA may be coming close to their death. The return of Russo may just be the final nail in the casket. TNA takes their top talent and randomly puts an old mask back on his head. Why? Because TNA.

 

In case you can't wait until someone does The Death of TNA, here's the outline for it.

http://taimapedia.org/index.php?title=LOLTNA_History